Turn Around

This image was made as we were happily shooting the wonderful sunset at the Lake Hotel. The clouds were amazing and the reflections stunning. It was hard to take your eyes off of the constantly changing scene. That said, I’ve taught myself to always turn around and look at what is happening behind me. Too many times I’ve missed the best light because I was so mesmerized by what I was shooting. Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe we should WORK the scene we are drawn too. I’m just saying take a minute to turn around and see what is happening there too. When I turned around the light on this lovely tree was, well, yummy. I had the wrong lens on and the light was changing quickly so I just shot it wide knowing I could crop the 24 megapixel just fine later. Two things caught my eye, the light and the beautiful graphic nature of the tree. Ultimately I’ve chosen the B&W version as I felt it focused the eye on the graphic design. A color version is included below with a slightly different crop as well.

Moral of the story, turn around, especially for sunrise and sunset shoots.

Its fun to share. Go ahead, click a social media icon and share! You know you want to..

“Life is like a good black and white photograph, there’s black, there’s white, and lots of shades in between.” ~ Karl Heiner

Amen JB! Great post and words of wisdom! And yet, an image that is taller than you! Great perspective!

Both images work and the lessons of turning around and being aware of your surroundings is a key element to discovery and seeing beyond the initial vision that brings us to a particular spot.

Direct, indirect, reflective and all of the given possibilities of light, dark and the shades between – a scene and scape continues to evolve. Standing up, climbing a rock or even laying down, it all changes.

Imagine back to when we were a child, being lifted by our parent to see further and awaiting to be able to see on our own. Yet, we always have had the visions of our own.

First impressions to last impressions to future impressions… the process is never-ending with infinite possibilities.

What do we see, what do we feel, how do we interact, how do we react and how do we record the moment. From being the photographer to a viewer of works of art, the journey and discovery is never ending – even if we stay in one location – no moment is ever the same. Ever-changing enlightenment.